COACHES and minibuses carrying children to and from Coventry schools were declared unsafe during a police swoop.

Faulty seatbelts, tyres and broken suspension were among the defects found on some of the vehicles tested as part of a West Midlands Police operation.

About a third of the vehicles stopped were found to have a problem.

The vehicles with problems were ordered off the road immediately and the drivers and their companies were served with prohibition notices, preventing the vehicles being driven until repairs have been completed.

The details of the defects are now being considered by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency.

The drivers and their employers could face having their licences revoked and ultimately, prosecution.

Officers from the city’s Stoney Stanton Road police station carried out random tests on vehicles driving to and from schools in the north-east of the city during the police operation, named Operation Coachman.

It was the first time that checks concentrated solely on vehicles being used to transport children.

Of the 14 vehicles tested by police in a two week exercise, four were found to have mechanical defects and were prevented from continuing their journeys.

Sergeant Tim Rogers, of Stoney Stanton Road police station, led the operation and was pleased with the results.

He said: “We need to ensure children are being carried to and from schools in safe vehicles.

“It is encouraging that the majority of those tested were found to be safe.”

The checks in Coventry form part of a continuing operation taking place throughout the West Midlands.

Sgt Rogers added: “We are working with the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency.

"The agency issues the licences, a condition of which is to run a roadworthy vehicle, so these will now be followed up from a licensing point of view.

“The vehicles with defects have been prohibited from being used until the defects have been fixed.”